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Category: Cal Jillson

The Republican establishment awaited Steve Stockman’s return to Washington with some trepidation. After all, this is the guy who, in a single, memorable term in Congress from 1995 to 1997, made national headlines for his contacts with domestic militia figures, his suggestion that the Clinton administration burned down cult leader David Koresh’s Waco compound as …

There’s an ever-growing list of liberals comparing our freshman senator from Texas, Ted Cruz, to the late anti-Communist rabble-rouser Joe McCarthy. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews was the first to jump on the Ted-as-Joe bandwagon, declaring that Cruz’s questioning of Defense Secretary nominee Chuck Hagel “reeked of innuendo and guilt-by-association.” “This is McCarthyism,” Matthews, a former aide …

“I don’t like living under this cloud. But I’m not angry about it. I even pray for the prosecution and my enemies,” the former Houston-area congressman told The Associated Press in an interview. “No, they have not destroyed Tom DeLay as a person. And I’m ready to go to prison if that’s where I’m supposed to end up.” …

The Republican nominee needs to capture at least eight of 12 swing states captured four years ago by Obama to have a chance in an Electoral College that favors Democrats because of the president’s dominance in megastates such as California, New York, Illinois and Pennsylvania. Texas is the only one of the nation’s five most populous states that is safely in the Romney column. …

Harold Simmons of Dallas — owner of Contran Corp., a holding company — is the largest contributor nationwide to give to super PACs still active in the 2012 presidential election. House builder Bob Perry of Houston comes in second for GOP-related campaign contributions. Perry gave $2.5 million to American Crossroads and $4 million to Restore Our Future. …

Editorial board meetings likely look to Perry and Dewhurst “like another ‘gotcha’ opportunity they want to avoid,” said Democratic consultant Harold Cook. He also cited a “changing news world,” saying editorial pages were once “the town square. There are so many town squares now.” …

Republican leaders have called on Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison to create a Republican alternative to the Violence Against Women Act. But Hutchison’s stances have not always won her favor from party leaders. …

Political observers attribute the growing Republican chasm over differing political interests.

“Perry, Dewhurst and the party all want to have the March 6 primary on its scheduled date. Assuming Perry is still in the (GOP presidential) race, Texas could be helpful to him,” said Cal Jillson, who predicted that turnout could drop by half in legislative and congressional races if they were moved to May primary.

Rick Perry’s entry into the 2012 presidential contest will shake up the GOP field and add a burst of excitement to a race dismissed by many insiders as lackluster. But there is no guarantee the heralded entrant will live up to his advance notice as the savior of the Republican Party.

“Everything that is being said about Rick Perry right now was said about (former Tennessee Sen.) Fred Thompson four years ago,” says Fergus Cullen, a New Hampshire Republican activist who has not endorsed any candidate. “It can be very hard to live up to the hype, and Governor Perry has gotten a lot of hype.”